At UFC 281 media day, Alex Pereira spoke about the potential aftermath of his fight against Israel Adesanya, his training with Glover Teixeira, and how he discovered his indigenous heritage through kickboxing.
PHOTO COURTESY: Stephen Sylvanie
Three days removed from the highly anticipated, Madison Square Garden-hosted pay-per-view UFC 281: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira, Pereira spoke to the media about his kickboxing history with Adesanya, his camp with former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira, and how he believes Adesanya would run from a rematch.
"I don't think he wants. He don't want that," Pereira told reporters when asked about a potential rematch with Adesanya after UFC 281. "For me makes no difference. You know what I mean? Whoever they want to put after, but he does deserve that [rematch]."
It is no secret that Pereira, a former Glory kickboxing world champion, defeated Adesanya twice in the kickboxing ring, first in 2016 by unanimous decision and again in 2017 via a vicious knockout. At UFC 281 media day, Pereira gave reporters his thoughts on their previous matchups.
Alex Pereira believes he has the advantage over Isreal Adesanya due to his superior kickboxing skills.
"Well, we both have a lot [of experience], but I think I have the edge on the kickboxing because I evolved it a lot after the fight. People want to say 'Oh, but now this a MMA fight,' but many people think that this is gonna be a kickboxing fight inside an octagon. So that being said, who do you think is gonna have the edge? Me, that kept doing kickboxing for all those years? Or him that stopped training kickboxing?"
Pereira was also asked about his indigenous Brazilian heritage, which he discovered through his kickboxing coach and is a large part of his fighter identity.
"Well, in 2009, I started training kickboxing. My first coach, he was deep into the indigenous culture, and he came and he asked me if I had indigenous blood, and I actually didn't know. So, I came and asked for my father because right there he said that his grandparents and my mother's grandparents were all indigenous. So I came back, I talked to my coach and he was very happy. And, he helped me to bring that back into me and to explore more the culture, so it means a lot to me."
For his training camp ahead of UFC 281, Pereira has been training with former UFC light heavyweight champion Teixeira at Teixeira MMA in Bethel, CT.
"Being trained at Teixeira MMA, you know, it's been something very helpful to me," Pereira said. "Not only the names that we spoke, but we also have Fernando in the boxing, we have Caio Magalhaes, who fights in the UFC, on the ground, so I'm very, very well taken care of."
UFC 281: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira takes place on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, live from Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Follow along with Crimson Combat for all your news and highlights.